Coronavirus Developments: Vaccine Deals, More Face Mask Mandates, And A Coronavirus Warning

Wednesday opened with a $1.95 billion deal between two pharmaceutical companies and the U.S. government to produce 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021. Then there were new mask requirements in Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Ohio, and a coronavirus warning message from White House coronavirus advisor, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

In an agreement between Pfizer and BioNTech, the U.S. government will secure at least one-third of the production of the BNT162b1 vaccine once approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the option to take another 500 million doses if required.

The FDA has fast-tracked two out of four vaccines being developed by the pharmaceutical companies earlier in July after they showed promise in fighting off the coronavirus infection

“We’ve been committed to making the impossible possible by working tirelessly to develop and produce in record time a safe and effective vaccine to help bring an end to this global health crisis,” Pfizer Chairman and CEO Dr. Albert Bourla said in a statement.

Bourla also said that production of the vaccine is underway for test trials with more agreements with other countries expected to come for the vaccine.

Face masks also marked the day as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Ohio, became the latest cities to require them when in public places.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Wednesday that face masks would be required for all persons in the city over the age of 3 as the city sees an uptick in coronavirus cases with 102 new confirmed cases reported on Tuesday and over 11,500 cases of the virus reported in total.

Exemptions to the face mask requirement include vigorously exercise outdoors and not close to others, active eating or drinking, or if a person was alone in an enclosed office.

The face mask mandate will be enforced by the city, but details on the enforcement were not announced at the time of the order by Bowser.

Baltimore also issued a face mask order on Wednesday, with Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young also suspending indoor dining at restaurants and bars in the city as positive coronavirus cases continue to rise.

Maryland reported 860 new cases of the virus on Tuesday, bring the state's total to more than 80,000 cases on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The city’s face mask order will affect all residents over the age of 2 and must be adhered to when social distancing of 6 feet is not possible, Young said. The mayor’s order indoor restaurant and bar ban goes into effect at 5 p.m. on Friday and will last at least two weeks.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also issued a face mask order that will go into effect on Thursday.

Also, on Wednesday, Dr. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and White House adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, issued a warning that COVID-19 may never be eradicated.

Fauci made the statement to the TB Alliance, an organization dedicated to the development off medication for tuberculosis. “I think with a combination of good public health measures," he said, "a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine, which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get, I think when we put all three of those together, we will get control of this, whether it’s this year or next year. I’m not certain.”

But Fauci also said that he didn’t see “us eradicating it.”

“I have never seen infection in which you have such a broad range literally no symptoms at all in a substantial proportion of the population to some who get ill with minor symptoms to some who get ill enough to be in bed for weeks," he said. “Others get hospitalized, require oxygen, intensive care, ventilation and death. The involvement with the same pathogen is very unique.”

In other coronavirus news:

• California has topped New York in the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases, with over 409,000 cases reported while New York had over 408,000 cases on Wednesday. New York, which was previously considered an epicenter of the virus, has reduced its spread while the coronavirus continues to spike in the Golden State.
• Australians in Melbourne are now required to wear face masks in the metro area as cases in Victoria state continue to rise. Victoria state reported 484 new cases of the coronavirus in a 24-hour period, which Premier Daniel Andrews attributed to residents not self-isolating after being tested.
• United Airlines issued an updated face mask policy, now requiring them in all of the more than 360 airports it serves. The airline said that customers that who refuse to comply with the face mask requirement would be banned from flying with the company at least until the face-covering policy is in place.
• Small business loans issued by the U.S. government may have saved between 1.4 million and 3.2 million jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study released by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Federal Reserve. The Trump administration has claimed that 51 million jobs were saved by the loans, which totaled about $500 billion.
• Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time. The test comes two weeks after the president was tested for novel coronavirus on July 7 after falling ill. The second test was performed on July 21 and confirmed by the secretariat of Brazil’s Communication Ministry.
• According to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs, only one in 10 Americans thinks daycare centers, preschools, or K-12 schools should reopen in the fall without restrictions. The poll also indicated that most people think face masks and other safety measures are necessary to restart the school year. Another three in 10 respondents said that they think teaching kids in physical classrooms shouldn’t happen at all.
• Worldwide cases of the coronavirus have topped 15 million, with just over 618,000 deaths reported as of mid-afternoon on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. saw coronavirus cases rise to over 3.9 million, with 142,000 COVID-19 deaths reported. Trailing the U.S. was Brazil with 2.1 million cases of the coronavirus and 81,000 COVID-19 deaths, and India, with 1.1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 28,000 deaths from the virus, the university said.